Just got this new (for me) tea in from Upton. I was looking for a replacement to a Yunnan I had from last year (2008) but it too was a seasonal pick and therefore no longer available. The friendly CS dept manager at Upton pointed me to this tea as a possible replacement.
Like some other teas, Yunnans seem to come in various shades (amounts) of golden colored leaves. I was looking for a darker less golden version to offset my collection of golden leaf Yunnans. This tea surprised me in that it’s a more broken leaf than I was expecting. It says FBOP grade but I’m not always sure how broken is “broken”. This has small particles. The color is darker with some tips mixed in. The flavor for me is more golden flavored than the appearance would suggest. So the distinctive flavor of a golden Yunnan is stronger than I was expecting but it’s a very good flavor… just not quite what I was looking for in a darker leaf Yunnan.